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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25962298">A Night Twice As Long</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettza_99/pseuds/bettza_99'>bettza_99</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hindu Religions &amp; Lore, Ramayana - Valmiki</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:07:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,892</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25962298</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettza_99/pseuds/bettza_99</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lakshman and Urmila's first moments alone together after the latter's return to Ayodhya<br/><cite>“All the while, believe me, I prayed our night would last twice as long.” – Sappho</cite></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lakshmana/Urmila (Ramayana)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Night Twice As Long</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote this over the course of several nights of insomnia. So it's probably rushed and messy, and I apologize for any mistake.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Really, Mila. You don't have to..."</p><p>Lakshman was promptly shushed by his wife as she lead him by the hand into the baths. "I want to do it."</p><p>He had sworn to himself long ago that when the blessed day of their reunion came, he wouldn't deny her anything she asked of him. So he stopped protesting and followed her like an obedient child.</p><p>Still, he would have preferred to do this by himself. In the last fourteen year he hadn't given much thought to his aspect. The grooming and  bedecking that were a vital part of courtly life had to be abandoned in the harsh austerities demanded by the forest exile. Royal silks and oiled hair were replaced by clothes of bark and matted hair, but he'd hardly care. Besides, for most of that time the only people that had been around to see him had been Rama and Sita, who were in the same unkempt and unclean state as he was.</p><p>He knew he looked nothing like the dashing prince that had left Ayodhya all those years ago, but seeing his reflection in an actual mirror (he had only seen it in rivers and ponds in the forest) and contrasting his looks with those of his twin made him realize just how much he had changed.</p><p>"Goodness, I need a bath!" He'd exclaimed, making his family laugh. In reality, he needed far more than a bath but he figured that was a good place to start. He'd tried to excuse himself from everyone to go get clean, but Urmila insisted on helping him.</p><p>"You must have expected your prince charming to come swaggering through the palace gates," he told her while she poured perfumes and flower petals into the water for his bath. "And instead, you wondered who was that wild ascetic that was walking toward you." He felt a little ashamed of not having thought of tidying himself up a little bit for her.</p><p>"Doesn't matter what I thought." The corners of her mouth curled up. "I'll have my prince charming when I'm done here."</p><p>She made him take off his tattered clothes and get into the water. He sighed when he entered the tub, it'd been a long time since he'd had a hot bath and he'd forgotten how good it was for his strained muscles. Urmila began soaping and scrubbing his skin, rubbing it with turmeric and herbal pastes until all the grime and filth that had accumulated in his pores had been drawn out, leaving his skin smooth and soft. She raised an eyebrow to the scratches and bruises that covered his body, but didn't comment on them. She'd already been told that everything would be explained later.</p><p>Before they arrived back home, Rama had asked them to restrain from telling everyone what had happened during their exile, at least for a few days. Not everything was kept secret, though; the flying chariot that had dropped them in Ayodhya and the talking monkey that accompanied them weren't the kind of things that could wait for an explanation. But for the rest - Ravana, Sita's kidnapping, the war - it was better to wait until they were fully settled in before telling the story.</p><p>Lakshman agreed, there was no need to overwhelm their love ones with the full account of their 'adventures' and to make themselves revive them so soon after the facts.
To think that only a few days ago, he'd been fighting side by side with monkeys and bears against an army of demons!</p><p><em>It's strange</em>, he thought while he brushed off the dried blood under his nails. <em>A part of me feels like it happened years ago, while another feels like I'm still there.</em></p><p>After she had cleaned him fully, Urmila move on to his beard. It was a long, tangled, unruly thing. She first trimmed it with sharp scissors and then shaved it off, leaving only a mustache, the tips of which she oiled and curled upwards. Lakshman felt oddly naked without his beard, but decided it was worth it after feeling Urmila's soft fingers against his bare skin.</p><p>She saved the hardest part for the end: his hair. It took a lot of patience and effort to untangle the rat's nest on top of his head. She had to first soften it with oils and then separated it into small sections that she would then try to past a comb through. If it were for Laksman he would have cut it all off and save himself the trouble, but Urmila had a frown of determination in her face. So he kept quiet and let her continue her ministrations, only wincing whenever her comb got trapped in a knot. "Sorry," she would mutter every time it happened. At last, his hair was freed of tangles and Urmila was able to run her fingers through it.</p><p>He sat there for some time, throwing his head back and closing his eyes, enjoying the feeling of her nails softly scraping his scalp. It had been a while since he'd felt so at peace. In the darkest times he had feared this peace would never come again. But there it was, after so long. Hopefully, it had come to stay.</p><p>"Lakshman," Urmila's whisper broke his reverie. He opened his eyes slowly to look at his wife, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw how she was looking at him. Her always bright eyes seemed to burn now, scorching with the unmistakable flames of desire. His treacherous mind made his stomach flip by reminding him of the last time that a woman had looked at him like that. <em>But no,</em> he told himself, <em>this is different.</em> There was no edge of possessiveness in Urmila's eyes, no tinge of desperation. Just a tender request.</p><p>She was so beautiful, this wife of his. Far more than he'd remembered. Either his memory hadn't done her justice, or she had grown lovelier with the years. Her round face was like a full moon, with dimpled cheeks that still gave her an air of innocence. Her almond-shaped eyes were like two brown pools that he could gladly drown in, with long thick eyelashes that grazed her cheeks like two black fans. And her lips were plump and perfectly curved, looking as soft as rose petals. They drew him in, irresistibly pulling him by an invisible thread until he was touching them with his own lips.</p><p>They kissed tentatively at first, as if dipping their toes in the water, before taking a full dive, growing more passionate, more hungry for each other. After a while, Urmila broke the kiss, leaving Lakshman panting, and taking a step back, she began to loosen her clothes. She had clearly changed since he'd last seen her. The girl he'd married never lost the shyness of a new bride, blushing and lowering her glance whenever she undressed in front of him. The woman that stood in front of him now didn't take her eyes from his as she unwrapped her saree and let the fabric drop to the floor, displaying her nakedness without a hint of shame.</p><p>Lakshman inhaled sharply. For years he had constrained his baser desires with the painstaking discipline demanded by the life of an ascetic he'd been living. Well, that constrain was thoroughly shaken by the sight of Urmila's naked body. Its perfection aroused the lust the had never been fully quenched, only lay dormant waiting for her.</p><p>She sat straddling him, laying on top of his chest and pressing her forehead against his. They both moaned when their bodies came into contact, but neither of them moved afterwards. They stayed perfectly still, holding each other so close they could both feel the other's trumping heartbeat.</p><p>"I spent so many nights tossing and turning in my bed," she said in a low husky voice. "Dreaming of the day I would touch your body with mine again." Her eyes now showed a hint of pain behind the desire. "That bed was so cold and lonely."</p><p>His own heart ached. He began a string of apologies, but she quieted him. "Shhh, don't apologize. Make it up to me."</p><p>He felt that it would take a whole life to make it up to her, but he was willing to start then. He began venturing his hands all over her, feeling every crevasse, every curve of her body, while she clung to his shoulders, nuzzling his neck with little kisses that drove him mad. He wanted to take it slow, to enjoy every second of it, but Urmila was too eager in her passion, making him struggle to keep her pace... Only to have him reach the finish line too soon after starting the race.</p><p>His face burned with the shame of it. "I'm sorry... Umm... I... It-it's been a while," he mumbled a pitiful apology. He wanted to slap himself. Not even when he was a green boy had he embarrassed himself so thoroughly.</p><p>Urmila shook her head, and lay limp on top of him, burying her face in his shoulder. After a few moments, he felt her breathing become ragged and her tears dampened his shoulder. He opened his mouth to apologize again, but she spoke first, her voice a tremulous murmur, "Please don't ever leave again."</p><p>A hard knot lodged his throat. When he had parted all those years ago, they both have made promises of faithfulness and eternal love. But fourteen years was a long time. They both had grown up and changed immensely during their separation. They had barely known each other back then, and now they were virtually strangers. His biggest fear upon his return was to find that she had grown indifferent of her distant husband, or worse, that she hated him for having abandoned her in the prime of her youth, when she had been ready to give him all the love that she possessed. And he couldn't have blamed her for it.</p><p>He had practiced for years what he would say, how he would ask for her forgiveness upon seeing her. But when he stood in front of her, he was speechless. He'd stayed frozen in place, not knowing what to do, for what it felt like an age but must have been only a few seconds. Until she overcame her own hesitation and thrown herself into his arms, crying that she had waited for him, had thought of him every day, and hadn't stopped loving him all this time. He'd lifted her up and spun her around, crying and laughing, and knowing himself to be so lucky that she had guarded her heart for him, as he had guarded his for her. He couldn't repay her loyalty by abandoning her again.</p><p>He made her face him, and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Staring into her eyes, he spoke; "Even if I had to leave, I would take you with me," he swore with a voice choked with emotions. "I won't spend another day away from you." The smile she gave him was shaky but warmed his heart nevertheless.</p><p>Lakshman was a man of the Raghu clan, who were always true to their word. And he gave her his word then; that for as long as he lived, he wouldn't let her sleep in a cold lonely bed again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Posting this as a one-shot, but it may get a second chapter...</p></blockquote></div></div>
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